


The neighbor

by GenieInaBottlexx



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Betty Cooper Needs a Hug, Eventual Smut, F/M, Neighbors, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:42:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24475201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenieInaBottlexx/pseuds/GenieInaBottlexx
Summary: Jughead Jones is hot, sweet, cute and smart. It's a wonder he's single and hopefully ready to mingle. And a week after being cheated on by her boyfriend, the thought of getting it on with her hot new neighbor is something Betty Cooper may be willing to entertain.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 17
Kudos: 80





	1. Chapter 1

Crying over a tub of ice cream and watching ‘forgetting Sarah Marshall’ on her laptop, was not really Betty Cooper’s idea of a typical Friday night. But there she was, sitting on her worn out couch, doing just that, as she waited for her friend Veronica to turn up.

In all of her 25 years of life, Betty wanted to believe that this was the worst phase of it. Even worse than the time she hadn’t been accepted in Yale. Even worse than the time when her mother had blurted out to Kevin Keller after the annual dance in junior high, that Betty had been harboring a crush on him since they were ten, only to have him tell her that he didn’t feel that way and was in fact probably gay. Hell, it felt worse than the time Polly had announced to everyone at a family dinner when they were 8 years old, that Betty had wet her bed the previous night after having watched ‘Saw’ and Betty had run up to her room, locked the door and cried for two days straight, quietly plotting Polly’s murder in the most gruesome way her eight year old mind could think of.

No, this way worse than any of those days because earlier that week, after having received a promotion at her job as a Junior editor at a political magazine, she had gone down to the Chinese restaurant that her boyfriend of 2 and half years, Reggie Mantle absolutely loved, bought their favorite dishes, bought a bottle of wine to celebrate her promotion and bounded over to his apartment, only to use her spare key to open the front door to surprise him and to witness him fucking a brunette over the arm of his couch.

In her utter shock, Betty had not only dropped the bottle of wine on the floor, but had screamed and thrown the boxes of Chinese food at their faces before running out of the place and calling her best friend Veronica to come and pick her up before she had a total meltdown in the middle of the street. The fact that Reggie hadn’t even come after her had probably hurt more.

That had been one week ago. Reggie had called her a couple of times, before apologizing and saying that he didn’t love her and was in fact in love with one of his co-workers and had been planning to tell Betty for a while now. That final blow had crushed Betty. Not only had he cheated on her, he hadn’t even loved her. That had led Betty into a downward spiral where she couldn’t stop weeping and thinking of how she had wasted 2 and a half years of her life on him.

Having a mother like Alice Cooper had ensured that Betty tried to do her best at everything she did. So she had tried to do whatever one could to be a supportive and loving partner. She had always been caring and supportive, never demanding, always putting Reggie’s needs before hers, had intertwined their lives together and accepted all of Reggie’s friends as hers, no matter how rowdy and indecent they could be, only to have him do this to her.

Veronica being the wonderful person she was, had moved in with her for a couple of days, till she felt better, to take care of her and offer her a shoulder to cry on. Like any good friend, she had called up Reggie and given him an earful of how he had hurt her best friend and told him to rot in hell for eternity, and then proceeded to curse him in front of Betty and telling her that it was for the best, that Betty deserved so much better. Betty had laughed a little at a few colorful curses Veronica had come up with, before bursting into a fresh wave of tears.

Now, while Betty still wasn’t feeling a lot better, she was feeling a little less upset. Maybe it was all the sugar she had consumed over the day, but her tears had stopped for a while. They’d watched several movies on breakups, listened to sad songs, consumed copious amounts of pizzas and tubs of ice cream and discussed how much of a trash bag Reggie Mantle had been, and Betty was beginning to calm down a little, at which point Veronica had decided that she could quickly make a run to her house and bring a fresh set of clothes to wear over the next week. She’d been gone for a while and would be back any moment.

As Betty sat watching the movie while stuffing her face full of mint choco chip ice cream, she heard the front door open and turned her head to see Veronica hurriedly entering the apartment, seemingly enthusiastic about something. Her hands full of bags with filled with clothes and god knows what.

“Betty! Betty! Betty! Sweet Jesus finally decided to show us some mercy!” she rushed over to the couch, taking her place next to Betty and grinning at her.

“ Whut aa yuu twalkin awout?” Betty was wary of her friend as she muttered the question with ice cream still in her mouth.

“Bettykins, I’m saying that the saying ‘that whatever happens, happens for the best’ could not be more true. After this terrible past week, holy spirits from everywhere have decided to show us some mercy and to shine light upon us and bring us some much needed joy.”

Betty stared at her friend’s face, trying to comprehend what she had just spouted and quirked an eyebrow, trying to convey that she had not understood a word. Veronica was clearly unphased by the confusion. She had a habit of rambling on about things when she got excited, with no regard as to whether the other person could comprehend her words or not.

“Oh my god. I think two hot guys moved into the apartment next door. I saw them just outside and under the present circumstances I should let you pick the guy, but I find the redhead to be really really cute and sooooo my type, so unless you have an objection, I’d like to call dibs on him.” Veronica finished and looked expectantly at Betty, her brown eyes sharp and filled with intent to carry out her plan to the t.

“No.” Betty deadpanned and glared at her friend.

“What do you mean ‘no’? It’s a perfect opportunity for you to get out of your misery and find yourself a new man! And I’ll be right there with you, finding myself a man too! And you don’t have to be serious. Just have some fun Betty! Loosen up a little.” Veronica huffed, unable to understand why Betty wouldn’t go along with her plan. Her friend needed to get over the douchebag that had cheated on her and the two men she had seen outside her apartment could just be the push she needed. Betty had always been tightly wound up and Veronica had never been able to convince her to let her hair down and have fun. The blonde barely went to bars or clubs with Veronica and the brunette had decided that she was going to get her friend to live her life a little differently. Planting a kiss on Betty’s cheek, she left the room to go put away her bags in the bedroom she was sharing with her, leaving her to mull over things.

Betty frowned at Veronica, her shoulders slumped in defeat. She wondered why Veronica couldn’t understand that only a week after her breakup, she was in no mood to look for boys. She didn’t want to get into the dating business anytime soon and her friend wasn’t really getting it. Besides, Betty had never been the sort of person to get into casual relationships or have booty calls. 

As she pondered over what Veronica had said, she leaned back on the couch and began thinking about why she couldn’t let go of Reggie. The man had been terrible to her and crushed her heart and she didn’t want to keep crying over him. The more she thought about it, the more her sadness was replaced with anger. Despite having been in a relationship for so long, her needs had not been entirely met with. Both emotional and well… physical. Reggie may have been a typical hunk, with a ripped body, great height and a charming attitude, but he wasn’t what one could call a ‘giver’. He hadn’t always fully satisfied Betty and she hadn’t complained because she had been happy to make him happy. But thinking about all that she decided that she deserved to have a good time. She deserved to be free and seek her happiness and not always try to be the quintessential good girl. Veronica’s idea started to seem more appealing and by the time her friend came back to the living room, Betty had decided that she was going to try and go along with Veronica’s plan. At most, it could be an ego boost for Betty and god knew how much of a boost she needed at the moment

The brunette looked at her and smirked, seeing the look Betty was giving her, she knew that while the blonde was skeptic, she was mildly interested in the proposition of meeting some new hot guy.

“Betty, it’ll be good and you’ll do something different. Come on, I’ve got moves and unless those men are already taken, I’m pretty sure we can manage to get something going.” Veronica said with a wink and Betty couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous her friend could be.

“You know what Veronica, show me your moves.”

But Betty had not predicted her friend’s enthusiasm and had definitely not expected her to jump into action so quickly.

“Yay! Let’s go say hi!” and before Betty could say anything or protest, Veronica had taken her hand and dragged her up from the couch, rushing to the front door and quickly opening it. Not realizing that unlike Veronica, who was immaculately dressed with her blue dress and pearls and eyeliner, Betty was dressed in her pajamas, her hair tied in a messy bun, her eyes slightly puffy, red and probably baggy and her lips chapped. As she watched her friend swing the door open in a hurry, she was sure that no person was going to find her attractive in the condition she was in. There went her chance at getting any attention from the boys.

“V, I look like a hobo, no one’s even going to look at me” Betty muttered as Veronica went up to the apartment next door, taking her along and getting ready to ring the bell.

“Oh hush, B. You would look beautiful in a gunny sack. You look nice and no one’s stupid enough to say no to that booty. And besides, the sooner we get introduced, the sooner we can get some much needed action.”

Betty giggled at her friend’s words. Veronica always managed to make her feel better about everything, cheering her up at her lowest. She always made it a point to tell Betty how pretty and amazing she was and she didn’t know what she would do without her. Moreover, her inherent confidence about her own abilities, charm and sexuality, always vicariously affected Betty, making her feel confident about her own self.

Veronica grinned at her friend and proceeded to ring the bell. The two waited as they heard the noise of furniture being moved around and then some muffled voices, before the door opened and a red headed male peeked out.

His look of surprise morphed into a cheeky smile upon seeing the two girls. He was quite tall, with warm brown eyes, that lit up with his smile and flaming red hair that had been pushed back. Freckles adorned his nose and cheeks and as her eyes swept over him for a second, Betty realized that he was really buff. She understood why Veronica had insisted on calling dibs on him. He was just her type and although he was indeed attractive, he somehow reminded Betty a little bit of Reggie, in the sense that they both gave her jock vibes and that was a road she didn’t want to take again.

“Hi, I actually saw you and your friend moving into the apartment earlier. We live next door and thought we’d come and say hi. I’m Veronica and this is Betty.” Veronica gave a quick introduction and extended her hand to him, while Betty gave him a small wave.

He shook Veronica’s hand and introduced himself. His name was Archie and he told them that it wasn’t his apartment, but his friend’s who was inside trying to fix the shower curtains. He was just here to help him set up and actually lived two buildings away. With the way he spoke, Betty decided that although she still had no interest in him, he was nothing like Reggie. This boy was sweet and had a childish quality to him that would warm anyone up to him in a short while.

“ Oh, where are my manners. Would you two like to come inside?” Archie asked them, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and bringing Betty out of her thoughts.

“Sure” Veronica quipped excitedly and the two followed him into the apartment.

“I hope you don’t mind the mess. It should be better in a few days though.” He said as he almost tripped over a stay cardboard box lying on the floor.

“Oh of course, you just moved in.” Veronica was giggling and with the way she was looking at Archie, Betty could tell that she was gradually turning up her flirtation. Veronica could be very charming when she wanted to be and Betty smiled at her friend’s intentions towards the redhead. The poor boy wouldn’t know what hit him.

As he led them to the couch in the living room, she took in the apartment. There wasn’t much since they were just setting up the place. The layout was the same as hers and the walls had been painted white. Cardboard boxes were scattered everywhere and random home items were peeking from places. She noticed a huge bookshelf right before her, lined up against one of the walls of the living room. It was filled with all sorts of books, but she spotted a lot of murder mysteries and thrillers and figured that that was the preferred genre. It made her a little happy that Archie’s roommate seemed to be the reading sort. If nothing, she may get a friend out of all this.

As she continued to look around, Archie got up to go to the kitchen to get them something to drink and she watched as Veronica followed him, leaving Betty to sit on the couch alone.

“Hey Jug! Come out! We have guests.” The blonde heard Archie yelling from the kitchen. _Jug?_ She wondered what kind of nickname that was and watched as the redhead and Veronica returned to the living room, both holding two bottles of root beer each. She gratefully took one when Veronica offered it to her and as she took a sip of her drink, she saw a figure emerging from the corner of the room.

Turning to look at whom she presumed was Archie’s roommate _Jug_ , she almost choked on the sip as she watched the person walk forward and into the room. Veronica had not been kidding when she said that the neighbors were hot. This one definitely was.

The man that walked in , had a head full of inky black hair that fell in curls over his forehead and various beauty marks adorning his smooth face. He was tall and not as muscular as Archie, but was lean and seemed fit, with slight muscles on his arms and what Betty wanted to believe, a hard chest under the Dark grey T shirt he wore. Suspenders hung from the back of the dark blue jeans he was wearing and for a second, Betty imagined what they would look like if he wore them with a crisp shirt. The thought got her a little flustered and she moved her eyes to see a pair of dark blue eyes staring right back at her. Beautiful pools of blue that sparked with surprise as he came and stood before them.

“Oh, Hey?” _God, even his voice was nice_. 

“Juggie, these are your neighbors and ladies, this is Jughead” Archie enthusiastically introduced the three of them, handing over the extra bottle of root beer to Jughead. Betty wondered if that was actually his real name or just a nickname, as she gave him a small smile.

Veronica beamed up at him and repeated the same introduction that she had given earlier to Archie, as Betty continued to observe Jughead. _He has a nice smile too_ , she thought as he listened to Veronica with a smile and she didn’t realize that she was being spoken to, until Veronica’s sharp voice addressed her with a “Betty, Betty!” and she snapped out of her observation and turned to look at her friend.

But she swore that as she shifted her head away from her new neighbor, she saw him smirk at her. Mischief and amusement lighting up his pretty eyes. And she knew then, that he had caught her shamelessly checking him out. _But whether he was going to do something about it or not, was the question._


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a few weeks since Jughead had moved into the apartment next to hers. Well, exactly 4 weeks and 3 days. And no, Betty had not been counting the days. Not at all.

Her new neighbors were good people, Betty had decided on the third day after them moving in. Much better than Stacy Brennan, who had played Taylor Swift at 2 A.M. in the night and tried to sing along in her nasally voice, borrowed things from Betty on a regular basis with no intention of returning them and constantly seemed to be nailing things to her wall. The wall she shared with Betty. No, her new neighbours were polite and decent and didn’t make unnecessary noise. Not to mention that they were two very hot guys who were easy on the eyes, especially the obsidian haired one.

They’d interacted with each other quite a few times frequently since the two men had moved in and while being neighbors made thing easier, part of the interactions were due to the growing proximity between Veronica and Archie. The red head and the brunette had shamelessly flirted with each other for about a week, before they’d started dating. And now, it was almost as if the two couldn’t be kept apart. Although Veronica had moved out of her apartment and back into her own about two weeks after Betty’s break up, her friend was still over at Betty’s place on a daily basis and the girls often found themselves in the company of the Blonde’s two neighbors, with Veronica and Archie falling over each other and giggling to themselves while Jughead and Betty were left to themselves to talk and making faces at the incredibly mushy and touchy couple.

But Betty wasn’t complaining. She had discovered that both her neighbors hailed from a small town called Riverdale, where they’d grown up together as best friends and moved to New York for college. Archie worked as a product designer at a start up firm while playing guitar on his weekends in underground clubs. He was the human personification of a puppy and Betty had taken quite a liking to him. The man was goofy and easy going and he made her friend happy, so she was happy too, quickly becoming friends with him. Jughead on the other hand, worked as a copywriter and took up other freelance writing jobs on the side while writing his own novel in his free time. His main goal was to publish it someday and Betty had to say that she was impressed. Being from a writing field herself, she felt glad that she’d found someone who shared her passion. She’d come to find that Jughead was more than just good looks and polite behavior. The guy was knowledgeable and read a lot, making their conversations easy as they discussed their favorite books and authors and argued about the interpretations of various writings. He also liked to watch old classics and once he’d found out that Betty loved thriller and murder mystery movies, he had gone on and on about how he loved the works of such and such author and how the movie adaptation of the same had been absolutely horrific. Betty found his enthusiasm to converse with her over the things he liked so passionately, very endearing and was happy that if nothing else, the man was very well on his way to becoming a good friend of hers and she would very much be content with that. On second thoughts, maybe not. It had taken her two weeks to realize, after Veronica had pointed out, that she had been flirting with Jughead every once in a while and he had been doing the same, often teasing each other over things and getting all excited when they interacted with each other. But they hadn't moved past that and she was okay with that for now. She wanted to take things slow anyway.

In addition, the company of her neighbors and her friend had reduced the misery Betty had been feeling right after her break up, by a great extent and it was on one morning, after around two and half weeks, that she’d realized that she hadn’t thought of Reggie for an entire day and felt any pain. It had surprised her that so soon, thoughts of her horrible ex were beginning to leave her mind and she’d been elated throughout the day, bringing home Chinese food and wine as a mini celebration.

On one Friday evening, not long after Betty had returned from work, the doorbell rang and when Betty opened the door, she was greeted with the face of her best friend, a wide smile plastered to it as she shoved past the blonde and made her way to the couch.

“Betty, we have a party to plan.” That was all Veronica said as she waited for her confused friend to join her.

“What Party, V? at your place?”

The brunette shook her head. “No, Archie’s. They wanted to throw a party this weekend and of course, I offered to help. And you know that by help, I mean plan. I don’t trust guys with party planning .” she rambled on as Betty looked at her in amusement.

“You’re an item, you know that.” Betty couldn’t help but tease her eccentric friend. Veronica had clearly taken over a part of Archie’s life and the man had happily let her. Now, she had made it her business to help her boyfriend throw the best party he could.

“I know, and you love me.” Replied Veronica with a beaming smile, before proceeding to list out the various things they would require at the party. Betty was of course part of the planning now. Whatever Veronica did, Betty always got dragged into it. And this time, she was rather happy to be part of this.

The two worked on a list for decorations and the menu and Veronica sent a list of items to Archie through text, demanding that he bring them while coming back home. Veronica Lodge did not do snacks and beer parties. She went all out with good food good alcohol alcohol and a nice ambiance. Two hours later, after Betty made some pasta for the two of them and they gobbled it down, the doorbell rang for the second time that evening. Veronica went and got the door and as soon as it was open, Archie stepped in with arms laden with bags full of the things Veronica had asked for, followed by Jughead carrying a few bags as well.

Betty’s face lightened up on seeing him. She wasn’t sure whether it was because she hadn’t been keen on being the third wheel while Archie and Veronica canoodled on her couch or because Jughead’s presence made her happy anyway, bringing a smile to her face every time he was around. She wasn’t entirely sure about her feelings at that moment and decided to just shove them away. Now was not the time to go down that rabbit hole.

Archie gave her his usual goofy grin and tried to wave with his full arms before disappearing into the kitchen with Veronica, who had taken the bags from Jughead’s hands. The party was the next day and they had very little time, so the brunette had decided that they were going to need two kitchens, Archie’s and Betty’s.

Jughead walked over to the couch and gave her his usual warm smile. “ Hey, Betts.”

 _Betts._ That was the nickname he had started addressing her with and she felt giddy every time he used it. It felt personal, like something just the two of them shared.

“Hey, Jug. Got dragged into the preparation as well?” She’d learnt over the few weeks that Jughead wasn’t a party person per se. He liked to stay in his apartment and hang out with a few friends every once in a while, just like her. Crowded clubs and pubs weren’t his scene and he usually avoided them. But since this time the party was being thrown at his very own house, there was no escaping it.

“Ugh, I never thought people needed all that much for a simple party. Does she always do this?” He was talking about Veronica’s tendencies to go overboard with the planning and making sure that there was an excess of everything rather than a lack of it. Betty giggled and informed him that yes, ever since she had known the brunette, this had been her passion, hence her career as an event manager.

The two talked about their day for a while and then Betty switched on the TV, surfing through the channels to look for something to watch, when she felt Jughead scooting a little closer to her on the couch and putting his arm around the back of the side where she sat. She bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling at that and kept her eyes trained on the TV. She had begun to notice that he had started doing that lately and hoped that it was an indication that maybe he was somehow interested in her. But before they could settle on a channel, Veronica came barging into the living room with Archie in tow.

She quickly dragged one of the spare chairs Betty had and plopped onto it, before diving into her party planning details, giving everyone jobs to do. Betty was responsible for making her famous peach pies and some finger food with help from Jughead, while the rest of the food would be ordered in and Veronica and Archie would take care of setting up the place and cleaning it up and drinks. The brunette and her boyfriend would be responsible for any running around that needed to be done. Everyone nodded their consent and the four sat chatting for a while before the boys decided to retire to their own apartment for the night. While Betty sweetly waved a bye at Jughead as he left, Veronica kissed Archie and told him that she would stay back for a moment and see him soon.

As she shut the door, her lips morphed into an evil smirk as she turned to Betty.

“Sooo, did I imagine it, or were the two of you sitting closer than usual? You seemed comfortable.”

Of course Veronica had picked up on the tiniest amount of change in other people’s behavior. The woman was hawk eyed when it came to such things. Betty shrugged and turned to occupy her seat again. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, V.”

Veronica quickly followed her, not ready to let it go. “ Oh come on. Jughead. You and Jughead have been getting closer and I can sense it. The boy has the hots for you.”

Betty looked up at her then. Her cheeks heating up at her friend’s words. She wanted to believe what Veronica was saying, but the part of her brain that always made her feel insufficient and unwanted, refused to believe that completely.

“Yeah sure. You can think whatever you want in your little head, but it’s not true. He’s nice and I may or may not like him a bit, but I doubt the feelings are mutual.” She muttered and looked down at her hands before focusing her attention on the television where some random show was playing.

Veronica grinned at her friend and tapped her shoulder to catch her attention again. “ You know you’re going to be cooking tomorrow right, with Jughead?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm… so, Jughead can’t really cook, B. In fact, Archie told me that the man would rather order take out for all his life or survive on noodles rather than make something and that Archie’s glad that at least he can cook for the two of them to keep them healthy enough. Jughead helps out with everything at home, dishes, washing, cleaning, all of it, but he’s weirdly lazy when it comes to the culinary arts and always whines when he had to go to the kitchen.”

Betty turned to her friend, her face expressing the puzzlement she felt. “ Then why’d you assign cooking to him, Veronica? You can’t make people do things they don’t like, like that.”

The smirking woman raised an eyebrow, as if taunting Betty to see something that was obvious. “Did you hear even a peep of protest when I told him he’d be cooking with you?”

“No… but that’s because he was being nice.”

“Uh-huh. Sure. He seemed pretty elated to me. Quite contrary to whatever Archie said about him and his relationship to the kitchen.”

Betty just stared at her for a few seconds. Trying to understand exactly what her friend was implying, before something clicked in her head. “Oh”, was all she could say as her cheeks began to heat up again.

“Oh, is right.” Veronica laughed and kissed her on her cheek before moving to her front door to go to Archie’s apartment, shouting out that she’d be there early the next morning and something else that Betty didn’t really pay attention to. Her mind too busy with thoughts of her beanie wearing neighbor. 

The most part of the next day passed by in a blur, with all four of them rushing from one apartment to the other, carrying food and ingredients that one lacked to the other. Veronica and Archie had hung up lights around the apartment, cleaned it up thoroughly and purchased whatever liquor they wished for, occasionally dropping by the kitchens to aid the other two.

They’d occupied the microwaves in both Betty’s and the boys' apartments and both their kitchen counter tops were in a clutter of bags of flour, peaches, sugar, butter and utensils. It was a mess, but Betty still thought that it was pretty fun. Jughead had followed her around like a puppy whenever she’d hastily walked from one place to the other, carrying things for her and looking to her for instructions. He’d followed them very diligently too, and Betty was surprised to find that he had mixed in everything for the pie filling very well on his first try. She’d patted his back and told him that he was a quick learner and the grin she received in return had made her want to pinch his cheeks. She had refrained from doing that and then proceeded to beat the crap out of the dough she was preparing for the pie crust.The rest of the morning and afternoon were spent cooking as they shared laughs and tested bites of their preparations, their hands occasionally brushing past each other every once in a while.

Betty hadn’t had this much fun in a very long while and she had been so happy that when she got a certain notification on her phone a few hours later, while the party was in full swing, it felt like a strong punch was delivered to her gut, bringing down whatever happiness she had felt before.

Veronica had decided to wear a beautiful plum colored off shoulder dress for the party, matching it up with gold dangling earrings and black strappy heels. She’d done a smokey eye makeup and a burgundy lip. The brunette had insisted on dressing up betty and put her in a dark blue dress with a sweetheart neckline and studded silver earrings, her makeup minimal with just some eyeliner and mascara and a pinkish-mauve lipstick. Looking into the mirror, Betty thought she looked rather pretty. The two had gotten dressed in her apartment and after checking themselves out once more in the mirror, they left for the next door apartment.

Betty was surprised at how everything looked in the evening. Even though they had spent most of the day there, in the glow of the warm yellow lights, the apartment looked different, prettier. A table had been set up at one end of the hall, lined with food items and drinks. and the place was filled with people, a few of whom were mutual friends of Veronica and Betty. The two girls made their way over to Kevin and Joaquin who were sitting on the couch, deep in conversation and after sharing warm hugs, talked about how life had been for each person. Kevin was their childhood friend and she was glad that they'd retained their friendship over the years. But they hadn’t met in person in a while and there was lots to share, including Betty’s breakup with Reggie, which she had only mentioned to Kevin. It wasn’t a comfortable topic but the blonde felt like she could talk about things without feeling so bad and told her friends exactly what had happened when Kevin had asked for details. The choice expletives he threw at her ex, definitely made her feel good.

At some point, Veronica left to go converse with some of Archie’s friends and as Betty continued to sit on the couch, talking to the other two, she felt the couch sink to her left. She didn’t bother to turn until she heard a familiar voice.

“Hey” Jughead’s soft voice came from the side and she quickly turned to him, happy that he was finally there. He wasn’t wearing the beanie he usually wore, letting his hair fall freely over his forehead, just like the first day she had seen him. He’d put on a simple gray shirt with black jeans, but managed to look so handsome even in that. He was so gorgeous in the simplest of clothes that it made her eyes hurt at times.

“Where were you all this while?” she pouted at not having seen him around earlier.

“I was just munching on onion rings and waiting for you to turn up,when this incredibly boring work colleague came up and started talking to me. Took me a while to get rid of him.” He explained with a laugh. “Also, you look beautiful.”

Betty blushed at the compliment and smiled at him. “You look good too, Jug.” He grinned back, almost smug, as if knowing the effect he had on her.

“Oooh, who’s the handsome hunk? Introduce us.” She’d forgotten that Kevin and Joaquin were sitting next to them before she heard Kevin comment. She introduced the other three quickly and they seemed to hit it off almost instantly and Betty couldn’t help smiling at how easily Jughead could get along with people. It made her happier that at the moment, those people were her friends. When she’d been with Reggie, her friends had clearly shown their displeasure for him and it had always upset Betty, more than she ever liked to admit.

The rest of the evening was spent like that, with a few friends of Jughead, namely Toni, sweet Pea and Fangs joining them and the large group of people taking up the majority of the couch and its surrounding love seats, eating and drinking and laughing. They were nice people and Betty took quite a liking to them, hoping to see them again.

But soon, all that happiness came crashing down, completely blindsiding Betty. She had excused herself to go to the bathroom, quite drunk and trying to walk straight. It was past midnight and some people were still there, occupying corners around the house, talking quietly as music played in the background. It was Saturday after all, and they were probably going to stay put till the wee hours of the morning and then spend their Sunday in bed. She spotted Veronica and Archie standing near the kitchen, sharing kisses and talking. Waving to them when they turned to her, she proceeded towards the bathroom.

It was as she was leaving to join everyone on the couch,that her phone buzzed with a notification. In retrospect, she should’ve ignored it and put her phone away for good, but she brought it up and clicked on a facebook alert, too tired to read the small writing on the notification flag. She almost dropped her phone, her mind shocked, as the page opened with a picture of Reggie and the woman he had been screwing behind her back, staring right at her. They were hugging each other, wide smiles on their faces, an animated heart in the background and a “ Just engaged” sign written in sparkly letters shining underneath.

She felt her breathing getting constricted, suddenly feeling suffocated inside the apartment, the food she had eaten threatening to come out of her mouth and she rushed to the balcony hoping that some fresh air would be the cure.

After the initial shock died down, her mind began to overwork. Thoughts of how this could happen and why her and not Betty, began to flood her mind. She had given Reggie everything and she hadn’t ever gotten even a word from him about getting married in the future. No dreams of settling down together like lovers often shared, whispering in the darkness to each other or after a particularly romantic or caring gesture the other did. Nothing. But she had clutched onto straws, believing that he just didn’t voice it, that they would have a future together. She felt stupid for having wasted her time and love on him, even after how he he had never given her much, and she felt stupid for crying over him again.

She was clutching onto the railing of the balcony, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She wasn't ready to face anyone at the moment, to let anyone see her tear stricken face or see her pain, but she heard Jughead’s concerned voice asking her if she was okay from behind her and something in her made her turn to him.

“Betts… god, what happened?” his face turned into a frown as he drew her into his arms and she let him, wanting some form of comfort. She cried into his chest as he stroked her back gently, babbling to him and spilling her heart out, telling him about what she had just seen. She was aware that he knew about her breakup, having picked up tid bits from whenever Veronica would blabber about Reggie accidentally, so he wasn’t really surprised at her hurt as he tried to soothe her.

They stood that way for a while, and Betty felt safe and protected in his arms. Like he would protect her from getting hurt. After her breathing calmed down, she looked up at him and he gave her a soft smile, patting her head in affection.

“Hey, he was an idiot. Fuck him, he didn’t deserve you anyway.”

And she wanted to believe him. Believe that there was some truth to his words and maybe he saw something in her that no one else seemed to. And it was probably that thought and the need to feel wanted in any sense that made her glance at his lips before she leaned into him.

Her hooded eyes closed at the sensation of his soft lips touching hers. It felt nice and toasty and after a few seconds of kissing, she brought her hands up to his hair and weaving her hands through the thick locks, pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. She felt his hands moving to hold the sides of her waist as he pressed her closer and she moaned. She decided that she liked kissing Jughead and at that moment, she felt like she could do this forever. But she also wanted to forget her pain, even if just for a night, she wanted to feel wanted by someone. She hadn’t wanted to proceed things in this manner, not with thoughts of her ex-boyfriend and his betrayal still playing around her head, but she felt lost and pathetic and couldn’t help want more from the man kissing her. She blamed it on the liquor running in her system when she decided to take things further. She removed her lips from Jughead’s and whispered into his ear, “Jug, let’s go to my place”, and taking his hand in hers, began to walk out of the balcony.

But before she could take more than two steps, she felt herself being pulled back and Jughead looking at her with a bit of worry on his face.

“Betts, wait, I don’t think we should do this.”

She felt her heart breaking in two at that. Of course, this beautiful, wonderful man would want nothing to do with her, even when she was practically throwing herself at him. She couldn’t help it as her eyes began to sting and tears began to well up in them. She felt even more pathetic than she had been feeling before, cursing at herself for misreading the signs and cursing at Veronica for goading her into believing that Jughead had any interest in her.

“Of course you don’t.” she whispered and the sadness turned to anger, mostly at herself, as she wrenched her hand free from his grasp and stormed out of the apartment, thoughts of every negative feeling she felt for herself coming to the surface. All the times she had been called plain and boring, times when her mother had told her in anger that if she didn’t do such and such thing then no man would want her. She had done everything, and still no one wanted her. She would have laughed at that if she could stop the tears streaming down her face.

She had just walked out of her neighbours' door and reached her own, unsuccessfully trying to jam the keys in to get it to open, when she felt her arm being yanked back as she was spun around, her back getting pressed to her door, as Jughead towered over her, one arm placed beside her head on the door as he glared at her.They were standing very close to each other and she could feel his warm breath as she stared at him.

“What the hell, Betty!?” Jughead wasn’t yelling, but his voice was more raised than usual and she couldn’t understand why he was the one getting angry. Didn’t he want nothing to do with her anyway. She wasn’t aware that she hadn’t thought that silently and had actually gone ahead and muttered that to him.

“You think I don’t want anything to do with you, really? Is that what you think?” He seemed frustrated somehow, bringing the hand gripping her arm to pull at his hair.

“You rejected me, Jones, just now. And it’s okay, I understand you don’t want me, so just please let me go. I don’t need your pity attention.” Her voice felt heavy and Betty knew it was the alcohol making her feel dramatic, but she was grateful that she could at least clear out whatever was _not_ going to happen between them. She may have thrown herself at the man, but she wasn’t going to make a fool of herself by repeating that ever.

Jughead laughed at that. Not his usual hearty, warm, laugh, but a cynical and sarcastic one.

“ Jesus Betty, I gathered that you’re oblivious, but this oblivious? Have you never seen the way I look at you, or behave around you? Did you think that, that kiss back there meant nothing to me?”

She was confused now. Was Jughead Jones saying what she thought he was saying, or was her muddled up brain imagining things it wanted to hear? She didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. It hadn’t ended well the first time.

“What are you saying, Jughead? It’s confusing me.”

He came a little closer to her, looking at her straight in the eye, trying to convey his sincerity through them. “ I’m saying that, Betty Cooper, I like you. Probably have since the first time I saw you. So don’t go around getting other ideas in that pretty little head of yours.”

She really was hearing this. Loud and clear, that he liked her. She felt the pieces of her broken heart fusing back together and a warm feeling spreading through her entire body. But then why had he stopped her earlier.

“Then, why-why did you want to stop?”

Jughead took a stray wisp of hair that had fallen over her face and pushed it behind her ear, giving her a small smile. “ Because A, you’re drunk and B, you’re upset and not making very coherent decisions.”

It was her turn to glare at him as she crossed her arms over her chest. “So? I’m not a child, Jughead and I’m not that drunk. I like you too and I can decide when I want to fuck and whom I want to fuck. And if you really like me and if I want to fuck you, then you can't tell me that I'm making an incoherent decision. ” The words were out before she could stop them, and she tried to refrain from biting her lip at the choice of words. She’d lied about not being drunk. She was definitely a little blitzed, but she wouldn’t admit to that.

His gaze suddenly darkened at that, his pupils dilating and the blue of his eyes disappearing to make way for more black. Then, licking his lips, he leaned forward and placed his mouth next to her ear, his warm breath running shivers through her spine as he opened his mouth to speak. Words that made Betty widen her eyes as she felt dazed, a sudden wetness pooling between her legs.

“Betty, I want you to listen and to listen carefully, now that we’ve both established we like each other. I stopped tonight because when we do finally _fuck_ , when _I_ fuck _you_ , because believe me I so badly want to, you won’t be drunk with anything but pleasure and you definitely won’t be having any thoughts of that useless, unworthy, ex of yours. Your only thoughts will be about how much you want me,how good I’m making you feel and how we're going to do it over and over again till all you can remember, is me. I want you all to myself, Betty, every part of you, every thought and every touch, understood?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! Finally posted it! One more chapter to go now.  
> I wanted to fit in a few more details, but this was already lengthy for me, so please excuse the lack of details.  
> Also, I had to put in the part with Jughead not wanting to cook because I wanted him to spend time with Betty, doing something he didn't like but still wanting to so he could spend time with her. Sorry if that came across as misogynistic. He will learn to cook later and like it.  
> The next chapter will be steamy, but i'm not very good with that, so god knows how that'll turn out.  
> But thank you for reading the story :)  
> Comments are very much appreciated


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